Dear customer,
We’re delighted you chose Elwyn Life for your planning needs.
As a token of appreciation, we are offering a free gift to all of our customers.
In 20+ years of doing business, we’ve read many books and tried countless apps & tools to increase our productivity, stimulate our creativity, boost our success or simply make daily life easier.
Today we’re excited to share our all-time favorites with you!
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Productivity
How about music designed by scientists to help you focus and put you “in the zone” while you’re working? Use their focus mode and watch your productivity increase. We did!
If you’re looking for an effective to-do list app, TickTick is a joy to use. The best part is, it has an integrated calendar: drag-and-drop any task to schedule it and assign reminders.
Are you an adept of the Pomodoro technique? It’s a popular time-management method that breaks your workday into 25-minute sessions, separated by 5-minute breaks. Pomotroid is a sleek-looking timer for your computer that does exactly that, and you can customize the timings at will.
Are you tired of wasting hours online instead of working? This is one of the toughest, most customizable internet blocker available. Block any app or website, and stick to a schedule.
This app just blocks your internet connection. It’s less customizable than Cold Turkey, but free. You can even use a password (and give it to someone else to stay disciplined!). Windows only.
Studies have found that we’re more productive with a certain amount of background noise. Coffee shop? Rainstorm? Noisly lets you mix and match to build your ideal background sound.
Do you like Kanban board apps such as Trello? Here’s an open-source alternative that can be used completely offline. It’s a quick, simple and visual way to plan your day, week, month or project.
If you’re looking for an offline alternative to Evernote or OneNote, this free app is great for taking notes and organizing them. It never needs to sync and works entirely offline. Windows only.
Searching for a great alternative to Evernote or OneNote? Look no further than UpNote. It’s pretty, supports lists, markdown and images. If you don’t like subscriptions, UpNote also has a lifetime plan.
Get organized and Boost your productivity with our line of minimally-designed printable planners on Etsy. We wanted something that could be used and printed instantly, but also something that would be clean and simple and help us make the most of our day.
Do you enjoy mind mapping? This app lets you make notes anywhere you want on a big board. Great to see all your ideas at a glance, move them around and make connections between them.
Frustrated with Windows Explorer? Directory Opus can replace it and do a lot more: dual pane, dual folder tree and a tabbed interface that lets you keep many folders open and switch between them.
Tired of making grocery lists? Just circle what you’re out of! Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text. Make your lists in a flash, remember what you need at a glance & speed up your grocery shopping, all while having fun. We are the happy makers of this product!
The classic best-seller on how to build passive income, live more & work less. Inspiring.
Motivation & Success
A remarkable book that has helped countless people around the world defeat “resistance” and overcome the many obstacles standing in the way of self-fulfillment. Our all-time favorite motivation book.
True to its title. The book is great, and so is the original audio book read by the author Steve Chandler.
Unlock your full potential with this timeless classic by Stephen R. Covey, which provides actionable insights into achieving personal and professional success.
Another excellent book designed to help you achieve your dreams. If you’re an artist hoping to break into an increasingly competitive industry, this book is for you.
Beat procrastination and learn the best ways to motor through your toughest tasks every day.
A fantastic study on the psychology of habits. Learn how to build good ones and get rid of bad ones, one small change at a time.
Can you really transform your life by changing your morning routine? After reading this book, we think so! Try this new morning ritual and take your energy, motivation and focus to the next level.
Writing
If you’re a blogger, novelist, journalist, screenwriter, or just need a seriously good tool to organize all your writing, Scrivener is the cream of the crop. Used and praised by countless writers.
Instant English dictionary and thesaurus! Ctrl + Right-click on any English word to instantly pull up its definition, whether online or on your desktop. It also has some terrific dictionary add-ons such as the Oxford, Collins or Chambers. Windows only.
Looking for a free alternative to Microsoft Office? The LibreOffice suite does pretty much anything Microsoft Office does, is open-source and, well, free!
Need to really focus on your writing? This simple soft hides and blocks everything on your computer except the ability to write. Radical, but incredibly useful.
This clever word game has so many fans it’s been bought up by the New York Times. One game a day, one word to find. A great way to keep your writing mind active!
Reading
Do you love non-fiction books, but lack the time to read them all? With Shortform, you can read or listen to the key ideas from thousands of non-fiction books. Their summaries are very well written, and they even add their own insights to help you understand important points.
If you’re a voracious reader, you’ll find thousands of people like you on Goodreads, and tons of reviews and recommendations. Every year readers also vote for the best books by genre, so be sure to check out the winners and nominees to find your next great read.
This website gives you book recommendations based on what you already love. Just enter the title of one of your favorite books, and you’ll get many suggestions in return.
It’s no secret that Bill Gates reads a lot, but did you know he also regularly blogs about it? Check out his many excellent recommendations, both fiction and non-fiction.
There are days when reading the news is just too hard to take, so here’s a news website that only talks about good, positive and inspiring news.
E-Learning
At ElwynLife, this is our first stop whenever we need to learn something new. Choose from thousands of top-notch courses and learn pretty much anything you want. You can often get huge discounts by using coupons from https://couponcause.com/stores/udemy-coupon-codes/
Linkedin Learning offers tons of online courses on many topics, from coding to business, to marketing or photography. Instead of paying per class, their plans give you unlimited access to all their courses.
If you want to learn anything technical, Pluralsight is one of the biggest platforms around. They have thousands of excellent courses for software developers, IT administrators, and digital artists.
Delegate & AI
If you’re not yet using it everyday, you’re missing out! ChatGPT can answer the most complex questions and save you hours of work. It can assist with learning, writing, and even provide coding help.
Their latest model, Claude 3.5 sonnet is often more impressive than ChatGPT and excels at creative writing and coding. Highly recommended.
If you’re tired of not finding what you want on Google, Perplexity.ai will search dozens of websites for you and compile all the data into a comprehensive answer. A must-have.
Need a voice over for your content? This is one of the most advanced text to speech software, with amazing lifelike results.
On-demand freelance services starting from $5. Connect with 100,000+ sellers who can help you out in any field you want. Tons of choices, and great prices.
One of the largest global platforms to hire freelances in any field. Build your business by hiring the right person anywhere in the world.
Don’t have the time to go to the car wash? This mobile car wash comes to you at work or at home for full car wash and detailing services.
Networking & Marketing
This fantastic Gmail add-on lets you send hundreds of emails in one go and auto-fills the names of your prospects from a spreadsheet. A game-changer when you need to submit your work, product, reel or portfolio to hundreds of people at once. It even follows up automatically.
The easiest website builder around, with no need to code. We have built many business websites with Wix and we’re very happy with their service. If you’re a blogger though, we would recommend WordPress + Elementor Pro (more on this below). These services are better adapted for blogs, but they do come with a slight learning curve. If you want a great-looking website live asap, you can’t beat the simplicity of Wix.
Another excellent website builder, with a slight learning curve. We would rate their ease of use somewhere between Wix (the easiest all-around) and Elementor (see below). But we really like their templates, and they look so sleek you can just use them as is.
Elementor Pro is a very powerful builder for WordPress, and it lets you move blocks around with no need to code. Once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty much as easy to use as Wix, and perfect to design blogs and complex websites.
Note that Elementor Pro needs a WordPress Theme to function, but you can simply use the free theme “Hello Elementor”, which Elementor created specifically to work with their builder. The website on which you are now has been designed using WordPress + Hello Elementor Theme + Elementor Pro.
Once you get used to working with Elementor Pro, you’ll be able to design very complex websites, not to mention there are TONS of companies offering free and paid plugins to supercharge your website with complex add-ons (hotel booking, e-commerce website, large online stores, etc.), all without coding.
Perhaps you don’t need a full website, but just a simple landing page for your business? Carrd lets you do that for free OR for a fraction of the price of Wix or Squarespace.
Need to buy a domain name? We’ve been using Namecheap for years and we’ve always been happy with their service.
If you want your overseas clients to be able to contact you as if you were a local, Zoom sells foreign phone numbers in many countries. Incoming calls will ring directly in your Zoom app.
A brilliant book on why things become popular, with tons of great examples and tips you can apply to your own projects.
Travel
After a certain hour, hotels give great discounts on the rooms they haven’t booked. If it’s late and you need a hotel room for tonight, this app lists the very best deals around, and we’ve always been pleased with their curated selection of hotels. We suggest installing their smartphone app, so you can find a cheap room on the go at the very last minute.
You probably know this website already, but if you don’t, it’s one of the best places online to book a hotel fast and cheap.
Need to know what bus/metro/train will take you to your destination? How many minutes walk to the station? Quickest or cheapest way to get there? This app covers all means of transport and gives you a detailed itinerary in any major city. A must-have.
A really quick and easy way to search for flights and their rates. We love their price graph which lets you find the best days to book your flights.
One of the best flight search engines around, recommended by many.
This smartphone app lets you rent a hotel room during the day so you can shower, nap, do some work, use the spa, gym or the pool. Very useful when you’re on the road.
Tell this smartphone app which city you’re visiting and it will create an itinerary of the best sights to see in the time you have. Build 1 to 7 day itineraries, and tailor them to your interests.
Having lunch at the airport while waiting for your flight to board? Don’t want to look around for the nearest flight board? This smartphone app gives you the same info in real time on your phone.
Are you picking someone up at the airport? This app lets you track any flight and will send you real-times updates in case of delays, so you’ll know exactly when to leave for the airport.
Another excellent stock photo library that is free for commercial use. Great and big selection.
Europe’s most popular long-distance carpooling platform, BlaBlaCar lets you rent a seat in someone’s else car. Cheaper than a train and good if you like to make conversation. Read reviews of previous riders and choose your driver with confidence.
A great travel blog for backpackers, adventure-seekers and digital nomads. Tons of useful recommendations on gear, accommodation, travel insurance, and the likes.
Creativity & Design
If you need social media graphics or any type of visual presentation, Canva lets you quickly create professional designs online and has tons of gorgeous templates ready to use.
Need a logo for your business? Run a contest, receive submissions from many professional designers, and pay only for the design you’ve selected.
Thousands of graphics, icons and elements created by talented designers and available for commercial use. Reasonable prices and high quality visuals to design anything you want.
It can be hard to find the right font when you work on a design. This website lets you compare at a glance all the fonts installed on your computer. You can even tag them by style.
An excellent blog about fonts that helps you select the right fonts for a specific design or article.
One of the best stock photo libraries on the web. Their commercial plans are a bit pricey, but you can’t beat the choice and size of their library.
A bit cheaper than ShutterStock, and in many cases you’ll find the same pics here. Their plans are also more flexible.
One of the best free stock photo libraries on the web: beautiful, artistic, and free for commercial use. What more can you ask for?
Another excellent stock photo library that is free for commercial use. Great and big selection.
How about a photo library, but for movie stills? Now you can search movie stills by emotion, age range or location, and download them. Very useful when creating pitchdecks or presentations.
If you need vectors and illustrations, this is one of our favorite websites. Great selection, and decent prices for commercial use.
Their premium plan lets you download as many icons as you want, and they’re approved for commercial use. Plenty of great-looking icons to choose from.
If you’re always in need of stock photos, footage, icons, graphics, music, or sound effects, you can’t beat Envato Elements and their unlimited download plan, all approved for commercial use.
Need a complex 3D model for a CG animation? You’ll find tons of fantastic CG models for sale here. Reasonable prices and a huge selection.
If you have plenty of old, low-resolutions photos that need cleaning or upscaling, you’ll be amazed by what Topaz Gigapixels AI can do. Enhance details & resolution by up to 600%.
An AI upscaler like Gigapixel, but made for video. Turn your SD videos into HD, or transform HD into 4k or 8k.
Magnific uses AI to upscale your images and the results are mind-blowing. Their AI model understands your image and magically increases the details anywhere it can. A must-have for any visual creator. Plus, they recently added Mystic, an image generation model that excels at creating photorealistic images.
If you’ve never tried a text-to-image generator, you must try Midjourney. Just describe what you need and watch the AI create photorealistic images from scratch in seconds.
Another stunning text-to-image AI generator. If you’re after a very specific result, Stable diffusion gives you much more control over your image than Midjourney, but has a steeper learning curve.
A pioneer in the generative video space, Runway can create realistic videos based on a text or image prompt. Now you can even use a video of yourself to make an imaginary character talk or act like you. AI filmmaking is becoming more accessible every day.
If you’re looking to upgrade the look of your blog, this free add-on for Elementor is fantastic – it lets you customize your blog list more than Elementor, and is completely free.
Online Privacy & Security
A free, secure and open-source password manager available as a Chrome or Firefox extension. Never forget a password again. One of the safest solutions to store all your passwords.
Email service focused on privacy, encryption and security. As opposed to services like Gmail, your Prontonmail communication is end-to-end encrypted and protected by Swiss privacy laws.
An inexpensive and trustworthy VPN, with only a number associated to your account. It has been independently audited and is recommended by Privacy Tools (see below). And it’s fast!
Great website that lists the most privacy-focused tools available today, from email providers to operating systems.
A popular anti-theft software that lets you track your devices at all times, lock them remotely and protect your data. It can even help you find the thief!
A lightweight Windows firewall that can be configured to block all web traffic except the one you really need.
If you need to backup your data at regular intervals, this soft will copy all the files you need from one drive to another at the times you’ve scheduled. Simple, effective and works with cloud drives.
Macrium Reflect can create a backup of your entire system for free, which can then be replicated. If your system crashes and can’t be repaired, this is a great way to recreate your drive exactly as it was.
If you need a lot of cloud storage for free, you’ll love Mega, which offers a whopping 20GB on their free plan.
Edward Snowden’s go-to app for secure messaging. If you’re looking for a private, end-to-end encrypted, open-source alternative to Facebook messenger or Whatsapp, look no further.
A popular and efficient ad-blocker that works with most browsers. If you’re tired of seeing ads online everywhere you go, this will block them all. No more ads, ever.
If you’ve got sensitive data on your computer, VeraCrypt can encrypt your entire drive and make it very hard for anyone other than you to access it. Plus, it’s free and open-source.
Lifestyle & Wellness
Protect yourself from everyday exposures to potentially toxic chemicals in personal care and beauty products. EWG has tested thousands of products to help you know what is safe to use.
If you’ve always wanted to try meditation, this is a great place to start. Listen to a soothing voice every day by following one of their many programs.
Studies suggest that walking 5,000 to 10,000 steps daily can offer significant health benefits. This app will help you do just that by counting your steps.
Forever banish the clutter in your home. Follow Marie Kondo’s popular methods to tidy your living space once and for all, and keep only the things you really love.
Business, Money & Management
A personal finance best-seller, this book is designed to change the way we think about money and has helped many get more control over their financial future. Inspiring.
This classic book by Dale Carnegie is full of simple and very effective tips to be more successful in business and in life.
How do millionaires really live? An insightful book on how the rich got rich, with lots of helpful advice on how to accumulate wealth.
A fantastic study on the psychology of persuasion, and how to become more skilled at getting what you want in business and in life.
This book will help you navigate high-stakes conversations at work and at home. Learn to better communicate when problems arise, and see how the right words can improve any situation.
If you want to read a great business book, it doesn’t get any better than this. The creator of Nike tells his life story, and how he built one of the world’s most iconic brand.
Ever wondered how Pixar Studios manage to make such great films over and over again? This book will tell you all about their team management and creative process.
One of the cheapest and fastest way to transfer money internationally, and much cheaper than regular banks. Can also be used to get paid in a foreign currency with no fees. We’ve been using it for years and we love it.
We hope these recommendations will help you as much as they helped us.
Thanks again for choosing Elwyn Life & Happy Planning!
